Life After Sports: Former Athlete Finds His Second Career with Workout Anytime

For many professional athletes, their main focus is to be the best in their sport and turn their hobby and passion into a career. But the sad truth is that many athletes don’t think about what happens when their professional sports careers end. In fact, many studies show that professional athletes actually go broke after retirement, but some athletes take the valuable skills they learned and parlay them into a second career. Many well-established athletes like LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Drew Brees have turned to the franchising industry to set themselves up for success after they retire from sports.

Zelly Wesson, a professional basketball player in the European league for 17 years, knew that like all athletes, there would come a time when he couldn’t rely on basketball as a career. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, as many professional athletes do, he decided in 2008 to get involved in franchising to set himself up for success when the day came for his basketball retirement.

“I knew that I couldn’t be an athlete forever but I could be a businessman forever,” said Wesson. “I had to decide what to do with the income I made as an athlete, and franchising really made the most sense for me. Franchising provides a proven system and I could work in an industry that I found interesting.”

Wesson initially got involved with franchising in the smoothie business, with locations in gyms, but over time, he realized that his business was too dependent on the success of the gym and he wondered whether opening a gym himself was a better path. After doing research about different franchise opportunities in the fitness segment, he discovered Workout Anytime and was immediately interested.

“I wanted to find a company that was the most appealing to the customers,” noted Wesson. “The biggest selling point for me was speaking with several current Workout Anytime franchisees. Each and every one of them said if they could do it again, they would choose to still franchise with Workout Anytime. For me, that says it all.”

Wesson currently owns five Workout Anytime locations in Georgia and is in the process of opening his sixth location. He has found that franchising offered him the support he needed and wanted in a second career and is a good fit for the skills he developed as a professional athlete.

“Aside from having the unique talents for a sport, there is so much more that goes into being a professional athlete,” said Wesson. “You have to be disciplined, hyper-focused on an end goal, adaptable and hardworking. All of these skills translate to being a good franchisee.”

According to chief operating officer Mark de Gorter, the skills and qualities of professional athletes that Wesson mentioned are exactly what Workout Anytime is looking for in potential franchisees.

“Zelly’s path perfectly illustrates why professional athletes become really great franchisees,” said de Gorter. “Athletes have experience following a system, working well with teammates and applying focus and discipline while remaining coachable, which leads to success in franchising. With our simple operations and recurring revenue membership model, Workout Anytime offers the perfect next career step for professional athletes retiring out of sports.”

On the heels of an incredibly successful 2017, Workout Anytime is committed to growing its footprint across the United States, with athletes like Wesson being a key part of its growth strategy.

“Coming into the franchising business is like going to a team with a set playbook,” stated Wesson. “Once you find the right team, you take the proven model and plans and maximize your skills to be as successful as possible for yourself and the business.”

To learn more about franchising opportunities with Workout Anytime, visit http://workoutanytimefranchise.com/.